Microsoft offers up to a quarter of its staff a voluntary exit, and Xbox is reportedly included

Microsoft has announced a “Voluntary Exit Offer”: eligible employees in participating teams can leave the company with financial support. According to GamesIndustry.biz, citing a report from The Verge, Xbox is among the units whose staff are eligible.

What the memo says

The memo went out on Monday, October 26, from Amy Coleman, Microsoft’s chief people officer. The offer is time-limited and open to “eligible staff in participating teams” in the US, UK, Canada and India, at level 70 and below (a grade on Microsoft’s internal job-level scale). Coleman also wrote that participation “varies based on each business’s priorities, customer commitments and workforce needs.”

The Verge reports that up to 60,000 employees could be eligible, about a quarter of the workforce. Exact figures differ by outlet: CNN puts it at roughly 27% of about 223,000 employees, Business Insider at about 25%. CNN says those who accept will leave on December 31, and Business Insider says they have until early December to decide.

What about Xbox?

Reports are not consistent here. Sources speaking to The Verge list Xbox among the eligible teams, along with Windows + Devices, Copilot, CoreAI, finance and human resources. PC Gamer and Eurogamer, on the other hand, wrote that it is not yet clear whether Xbox or any of its studios are taking part. Microsoft has not published an official list of teams, so Xbox’s participation is best read as a report, not a settled fact.

The offer follows an earlier voluntary retirement program this year, limited to about 9,000 US employees whose age and years of service add up to at least 70. GamesIndustry.biz also notes layoffs in July and September, mostly across Xbox and commercial sales; CNN puts July at roughly 4,800 people. These are real people deciding what comes next, so there is nothing light about this one.

Eurogamer recalls that Xbox’s earlier “reset” this year involved a planned 3,200 job cuts and a restructure of its studios: Double Fine, Compulsion Games and Undead Labs have all gone independent, while the fate of Arkane Lyon and Ninja Theory is still open. We covered the Arkane Lyon deadline, now moved to December 13. GamesIndustry.biz says further layoffs are allegedly planned, but nothing official has been published.

For now there’s no change to Game Pass or to the games, but it’s worth keeping an eye on.

What it means for players

For players, this is mostly about continuity: who stays at the studios making the games, and who runs Xbox itself. We already wrote about COO Helen Chiang leaving after three months in the role, and now a broad offer to staff follows.

For now there is no announcement of any change to Game Pass, upcoming games or hardware. If Xbox officially confirms its participation and shares details, we will update.